Solo Founder Seeking GDPR-Compliant Product Analytics

A bootstrapped solo founder with 500 users needs GDPR-compliant product analytics on a tight budget. The skill recommends PostHog Cloud's free tier with a complete implementation plan and GDPR configuration.

Input

What you provide to the skill

Solo founder, 500 users, need GDPR-compliant product analytics, max $50/month

Output

What the skill generates for you

Analytics Stack Recommendation for Solo Founder, 500 Users, GDPR-Compliant Product Analytics

Summary Recommendation

Primary Tool: PostHog Cloud (Free Tier)
Estimated 12-Month Cost: $0
Key Reason: Generous 1M events/month free tier covers product analytics needs for 12+ months while providing GDPR-compliant EU hosting and cookieless tracking.

Decision Matrix

Criterion	Weight	PostHog	Plausible	Umami Cloud	Fathom
Budget Fit (<$50/mo)	30%	10	8	9	7
GDPR Compliance	25%	9	10	10	10
Product Analytics	25%	10	3	4	2
Ease of Setup	15%	7	10	6	10
Solo Founder Fit	5%	9	9	7	8
Weighted Total		9.2	7.3	7.2	6.7

PostHog - Recommended

Pricing:

Free: Up to 1M events/month, 5K session replays, 1M feature flag requests
Paid: $0.00005/event after free tier (~$50 per additional 1M events)
EU hosting available at no extra cost

Why it fits your situation:

With 500 users, you’re likely generating 50-100K events/month, well within the 1M free tier
Combines product analytics AND web analytics in one tool (no need for separate solutions)
EU data hosting ensures GDPR compliance with minimal configuration
Cookieless tracking mode available for strict privacy requirements

Strengths:

All-in-one platform: Product analytics, session replay, feature flags, funnels, retention analysis
GDPR-friendly: EU data residency, cookieless mode, respects Do Not Track
Autocapture: Automatically tracks clicks and pageviews without extensive manual event coding
Solo-founder friendly: Visual funnel builder, no-code dashboard creation
Open-source with self-hosting option if you want complete control later
Predictable pricing: Clear per-event costs after free tier, no surprise charges

Weaknesses:

UI learning curve: More complex than simple web analytics tools due to feature breadth
Session replay adds page weight: ~100KB script (can disable if performance is critical)
Overkill if you only need basic pageview tracking
Requires some technical setup for custom events beyond autocapture

Alternative Tools Evaluated

Plausible Analytics:

$9/month for 10K pageviews, simple and privacy-first
Perfect GDPR compliance with cookieless tracking by default
Why not recommended: Web analytics only, lacks product analytics features (funnels, retention, user paths). You’d need a separate tool for product insights, pushing total cost higher.
When to consider: If you only need website traffic metrics and prefer extreme simplicity over product insights.

Umami Cloud:

$20/month Pro plan (or $3.50-5/month self-hosted)
Open-source, privacy-first, GDPR-compliant
Why not recommended: Limited product analytics features compared to PostHog; cloud plan exceeds budget. Self-hosting requires DevOps time.
When to consider: If you want to self-host and have technical capacity for server management.

Fathom Analytics:

$15/month for 100K pageviews
Excellent GDPR compliance, beautiful UI, zero cookies
Why not recommended: Web analytics focused, minimal product analytics capabilities. Price point eats into your $50 budget without delivering product insights.
When to consider: For marketing sites where you need simple, beautiful traffic reports and don’t care about product usage patterns.

12-Month Cost Projection

Growth assumption: 20%/month from 500 users (~75K events/month estimated)

Month	Est. Users	Est. Events/mo	PostHog Cost	Plausible Cost*	Umami Cloud Cost
1-3	500-720	75K-110K	$0	$27	$60
4-6	870-1,250	130K-190K	$0	$27	$60
7-9	1,500-2,150	225K-320K	$0	$27	$60
10-12	2,600-3,700	390K-550K	$0	$27-54	$60
12-Mo Total			$0	$324-378	$720

*Plausible pricing based on pageviews, not events. Assumes 10-20K pageviews/month range.

Note: PostHog’s 1M free events/month covers your entire first year even with aggressive growth. You won’t hit paid tier until you exceed 1M events in a single month (likely 18+ months away).

Implementation Plan

Week 1: PostHog Setup (2-3 hours)

Sign up at posthog.com → Select “EU Cloud” during project creation
Get your JavaScript snippet from Project Settings
Add snippet to your app’s <head> tag
Enable autocapture: Settings → Project Settings → “Autocapture” (ON by default)
Verify events flowing in: Go to “Live Events” tab in PostHog dashboard

Week 2: Core Product Tracking (3-4 hours)

Define your 3 key funnels:
- Signup Funnel: Landing page view → Signup button click → Account created → Email verified
- Activation Funnel: First login → Core feature used → Second session → “Activated” milestone
- Conversion Funnel: Free user → Pricing page view → Upgrade initiated → Payment completed
Create custom events for critical actions
Set up retention analysis: Go to Insights → Retention → Track “First login” to “Return visit” over 1, 7, 30 days

Week 3: GDPR Configuration (1-2 hours)

Navigate to Settings → Project Settings → Privacy
Enable privacy features:
- ✓ “Respect Do Not Track” header
- ✓ “Disable session recording on sensitive input fields”
- ✓ Consider “Cookieless mode” if you want zero cookies
Set data retention: Free tier includes 1 year (sufficient for most analysis)
Update your privacy policy with PostHog EU hosting information
If using cookies (not cookieless mode), add PostHog to cookie consent banner with “Analytics” category

What You Gain

$300-700/year savings vs. paid alternatives (Plausible, Umami Cloud, Fathom)
GDPR peace of mind: EU hosting, cookieless mode, built-in privacy controls
All-in-one analytics: No need for separate web analytics + product analytics tools
12+ months free runway: 1M events/month supports growth from 500 to 5,000+ users
Product insights: Funnels, retention, session replay, user paths
Future flexibility: Can self-host later if compliance requirements change

What You Lose

Simplicity of Plausible/Fathom: PostHog’s dashboard is more complex with more options
Best-in-class web analytics UI: Tools like Plausible have cleaner, simpler dashboards
Zero learning curve: You’ll spend 2-3 hours learning PostHog vs. 30 minutes for Plausible
Lightest page weight: PostHog’s script is ~45KB vs. Plausible’s <1KB

Alternative Recommendations

If you prioritize EXTREME privacy over product insights:

Use Plausible Analytics ($9/mo)
Pros: Cookieless by default, <1KB script, simplest possible setup
Cons: Web analytics only—no funnels, retention, session replay

If you prioritize absolute simplicity over features:

Use Fathom Analytics ($15/mo)
Pros: Beautiful minimal UI, zero cookies, 1-minute setup
Cons: $15/mo (30% of budget), web-only analytics

What NOT to Do

Don’t use Google Analytics 4: GDPR compliance minefield, cookie consent required, data shared with Google
Don’t start with Mixpanel or Amplitude: Unpredictable pricing at scale
Don’t self-host yet: At 500 users, ops overhead isn’t worth it
Don’t use multiple tools simultaneously: Pick one, commit for 90 days

Research Notes

Pricing research conducted: January 2026
Key sources: PostHog.com/pricing, Mixpanel.com/pricing, Reddit r/SaaS, Indie Hackers
Note: Event-based pricing changes frequently. Verify current rates at tool websites before committing.